Geoscience
Manitoba Drillcore Libraries
The Government of Manitoba recognizes that archiving of geological drillcore provides a valuable data source for use by mineral exploration companies and researchers. For this reason, the Manitoba Geological Survey (MGS) and stored Precambrian and Phanerozoic drillcore from exploration companies and MGS drilling programs since the early 1960s.
Facilities located at The Pas, Thompson, Lynn Lake, Flin Flon (at the former Centennial minesite) and Brady Road facility in Winnipeg provide storage for drillcore from all of Manitoba’s major mining districts. The Manitoba Geological Survey maintains an expediting base at the Flin Flon facility. The site also provides secure outside storage for drillcore obtained from company exploration programs conducted in the Flin Flon area. All five drillcore storage facilities have lighted, heated inspection rooms with benches, and most have core splitters. The Midland Street facility in Winnipeg provides storage and viewing of all oil and gas drillcore.
The drillcore libraries contain approximately 260 000 m of Precambrian core. This does not include core stored at the Centennial minesite facility or more recent additions to the Thompson and Lynn Lake facilities.
For information on Manitoba’s Phanerozoic oil and gas drillcore (cores taken from wells drilled under Manitoba's Oil and Gas Act), visit https://www.manitoba.ca/iem/petroleum/core/index.html.
Access and usage
The core libraries are not always manned; therefore all enquiries and requests for access must be made for each facility. Once permission is granted to view nonconfidential core in a specific library, arrangements are made to obtain keys.
Permission is required to sample core contained in any of the Province’s drillcore storage facilities. Assay results and pulps from these samples must be forwarded if requested. Quartering of previously sampled drillcore is not permitted except in rare circumstances.
Removal of drillcore boxes from the storage facilities is not permitted. Users wishing to examine core must be prepared to physically handle the core boxes and return them to their original storage location.
Users are expected to leave the core library facilities in a clean and tidy manner in consideration of the next user.
Donating core
Companies or individuals wishing to donate core for archiving in any of Manitoba’s libraries must first obtain permission from the appropriate facility manager.
Note: Companies conducting diamond-drilling in Manitoba should be aware that Manitoba's Mines and Minerals Act, Regulation 63-92, Section 8 states that
Every borehole licensee shall submit to the recorder, in duplicate, within 90 days after completion of drilling or such longer period of time as the director may under the Act stipulate, a detailed log of the portion of each borehole passing through the Phanerozoic, containing all geological, geophysical, hydrogeological and geochemical data collected in relation to the Phanerozoic portion and accompanied by a plan showing the location of each borehole.
and, in Section 9(b), that
...a person who drills a borehole or performs surface or underground off-property diamond drilling for the purpose of searching for minerals shall clearly label the containers with aluminum tape showing the hole number and depth interval of the core or chips.
Available Core
A list of available Precambrian and Phanerozoic drillcore, excluding oil and gas core, is available from Open File Report OF2012-1: GIS compilation of exploration drillcore from all Manitoba Geological Survey drillcore libraries by C.R. McGregor.
Contact information
The core libraries are not always manned; please direct all enquiries and requests for access to:
Colin Epp
10 Midland Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 2Y6
Telephone: 204-945-6550
E-mail: colin.epp@gov.mb.ca
Contact facility managers during regular office hours:
Monday to Friday
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
